The Supreme Court 30 April ordered the revision of digital knowledge (KYC) standards that allow people with the disfigurement of the face as a result of acidic attacks or visual impairment for access to banking and electronic administration services.
LEGAL News Livelaw said that JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan have stressed in the judgment that the state is obliged to propose an inclusive digital ecosystem that is accessible to all, including marginalized and vulnerable persons.
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“At this point, we would like to observe that at present, when access to basic services, administration, education, health care and economic opportunities is increasingly mediated through digital platforms, the right to life pursuant to Article 21 of the Constitution must be reinterpreted with regard to these technological reality.”
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution
Article 21 of Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental right to life and personal freedom.
The court said that because many social care programs and government services are provided through online platforms, the bridging digital distribution has become a necessity to ensure a dignified life.
“The digital abyss, characterized by unequal approach to digital infrastructure, skills and content, continues to maintain systematic exclusion not only for people with disabilities, but also large parts of rural people, seniors, economically weaker communities and linguistic minorities,” the court said.
The court ordered all government portals, educational platforms, financial technology services to be “generally accessible” for all vulnerable and marginalized sections.
“Under such circumstances, the state’s obligation under Articles 21 must read with Articles 14, 15 and 38 institutes to include liability to ensure that digital infrastructure, government portals, online educational platforms and financial technologies are generally accessible, inclusive and responding to all vulnerable marginalized populations,” she said.
The Court, which holds that survivors of acid and people with visual impairment are entitled to protection under the Act on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the court issued twenty instructions to be accessible to them. The instructions will be known as soon as the judgment is recorded.
Petition Pragya prasun
In the first petition, Pragya Prasun was looking for instructions for the inclusive KYC process for survivors and people with an acidic attack with permanent eye damage.
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Prasun is an Indian activist who survived an acid attack and founded the Atijeevan Foundation. The organization supported more than 250 other survivors. In 2019, Nari Shakti Pusar received from the Indian government for her work.
In the Prasun petition, he sought instructions from trade unions for framing the appropriate instructions determined by alternative methods for performing the digital process of KYC/E-KYC for survivors from acidic attacks that suffer from permanent disfigure eyes or burns to increase more available and inclusive and inclusive processes to survive acidic attacks.
The petitioner prayed that the center clarifies the importance and interpretation of “live photography”, as shown in the Indian reserve bank (RBI) -KYC Master Directions, 2016 for executing digital Kyc/E-KYC and suitable alternatives for this “live photography” with regard to challenges facing acid attacks and those who have permanent eyes.
Lack of Method Accessible Identification
In the second petition, Amar Jain, which is visually impaired, raised the problem that he regularly suffers from various KYC online formalities due to lack of accessible identification methods for digital execution of the KYC process.
The KYC process involves accepting selfie, signing with pen and paper, laying the signature on the screen using a mouse, printing and susceptibility or clicking on the photos of the completed form, extremely short duration of OTP, etc., which remain inaccessible to people with disabilities.
Therefore, it violates the provisions of the Act on Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2016 and Indian Constitution.
The petition seeks to ensure the availability and adequate accommodation in access to financial, telecommunications services and government programs of people with disabilities specifically blindness/low vision. The court issued a notice in this written petition on 21 January and described it with the petition Pragya Prasun, which was currently heard the same bench.
Experts welcome the SC order
The right to life pursuant to Article 21 of the Constitution must be interpreted again with regard to these technological reality.
Nipun Malhotra, founder of Nipman Foundation and Lead, Disability Rights & Inclusion at Public Policy The Quatam Hub (TQH) welcomed the Supreme Court’s order to recognize these challenges and proposed specific solutions.
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“Nowadays, when everything in the world moves digital, it is important that people with determination are not left behind. Lack of availability prevents PWD, especially persons with visual disabilities, access to basic devices such as banking, electronic trade, et ctera – things they take for granted.” It is a necessary service.
(Tagstotranslate) Digital Accessibility
